Tears of Light
Tears of Light is the second studio album of the American metal band Kairos. It was released in November 2011. Recording and Production With the success of their first album and their tour with Rammstein in 2009, Kairos entered the studio to record their second album in the summer of 2010. Recording went much better than for -Z1, as they had more experience. Brian stated later that they had a clear goal going into this album: "to unleash all of the hatred for the world we'd bottled up inside." Production went smoothly and the album was released in November of 2011. Themes Tears of Light was described by Derek as "a release of agony, pain, and misery that we all have felt at some point." Because of this, the lyrical and musical content is dark, violent, and aggressive. This is most apparent in the track "Eviscerated," which details vividly a brutal slaughter. The grim nature of the album has come under criticism, but the band has responded by saying that human nature is inherenetly violent and despicable. The album's introduction "(510)" is modeled after the introduction on Slipknot's second studio album Iowa, which opens with the track "(515)" which is an area code in Iowa, followed by "People=Shit." (510) is the area code around Berkeley, and the band used this to transition into their cover of "People=Shit." The song "Winds of Avalar" has been the source of speculation as to its true meaning. When asked about it, Brian said "I don't even know the real meaning of the song. It just came to me randomly while recording random bits. We all liked it and the song just formed from there. The name itself is somewhat of a mystery as well. Avalar is the name of a location in the Spyro games. Why is that important? I don't fucking know. Like the lyrics, the name just randomly came to me." Tears of Light itself was named after the Tears of Light in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. In describing the album, Michael stated that "In the game, tears of light are collected from insects by killing them. What are these insects are is never really explained. For all you know you could just be slaughtering innocent creatures because you were told to." Reception Tears of Light received positive reception from critics. Though it was different from -Z1, it was commended for still sounding like Kairos. It was compared heavily to Slipknot's self-titled album and Iowa. A reviewer stated "Tears of Light is a vicious record with tracks ranging from screaming and demonic to emotional and dark. It is a trip through the darkest recesses of the human mind, and the listener feels overwhelmed when it's over." Tears of Light was certified Platinum in February 2014. Track Listing 1. (510) 2. People=Shit (Slipknot cover) 3. Vicious 4. Parafusion 5. Denied and Hated 6. Forceful Relocation 7. Clockwork 8. Internal Primates Forever (Mudvayne cover) 9. Social Stigma 10. Eviscerated 11. The Talisman 12. Chemicals 13 Winds of Avalar